But recent results — a disappointing draw with Chicago, a lacklustre 2-1 loss to Seattle on Wednesday night at BMO Field — show how desperate the Reds are to get healthy.

Toronto FC remains without a starting centre back after the club’s CONCACAF Champions League run wreaked havoc on its exhausted roster.

Untimely injuries to Drew Moor, Chris Mavinga, Eriq Zavaleta, Nick Hagglund and Justin Morrow leaves coach Greg Vanney no choice but to piece together a back line that doesn’t feature a single defender who started last year’s MLS Cup final.

Even the best roster in league history can’t survive without a healthy central defender for more than a month. Should they be expected to?

Larson’s piece in Thursday’s Sun.

The Reds — well, this version of the Reds — have won just one of five league fixtures since their injury concerns began. They’re in jeopardy of losing a few more.

And with Atlanta and New York City taking off in the conference standings, Toronto FC can’t afford to lose more games they’d otherwise win at full strength.

Saturday’s trip to New England looks far more daunting after the Reds collected just four points out of a possible nine from three sides currently outside the playoff picture. The Champions League hangover is real.

Goals conceded against Chicago and Seattle Wednesday night show how desperate the Reds are for at least some of their wounded defensive stalwarts to return from extended absences.

Seattle’s opener materialized despite the Reds having an advantage in numbers behind the ball. Michael Bradley — still playing out of position as a stopgap option in defence — stepped and missed. Marky Delgado got skinned. Gregory van der Wiel slid and fanned on an attempt to prevent a one-on-one that Seattle’s Will Bruin eventually finished beyond Alex Bono.

Seattle’s disputed game-winner was just as concerning. Lax marking allowed Cristian Roldan to collect unimpeded yards in front of TFC’s flat back line before a simple ball rolled in behind saw the Sounders’ Handwalla Bwana finish off a breakaway.

The Reds entered Saturday night with a chance to jump within two games of a playoff spot following a slow start. They ended it where they began: 10th place in the Eastern Conference and still looking to recover — mentally and physically — from Champions League.

“On the first (goal), we didn’t have to try to win it quite so soon,” Vanney said. “If we could have forced Bruin to just hold up the ball, connect passes and not allow him to continue the game going forward we wouldn’t have gotten pulled apart.

“I said to the guys at halftime that if we could slow down some of their counter attacks, if they had to put more than a few passes together, I thought they would struggle creating a chance.”

He was right. The Sounders were brutal in possession, surrendering almost 70% of the ball and completing fewer than half the passes (647-317) TFC did. Much like MLS Cup 2016, it didn’t matter.

(mlssoccer.com)

Vanney spent the initial portion of his press conference arguing Seattle’s game-winner should have been flagged by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside.

Toronto FC’s bench boss entered the press conference room with his cell phone cued to a freeze frame of Bwana appearing to be offside before he beat Bono.

“I don’t think (video replay) is the challenge,” Vanney explained. “Video is there for people to make a decision … I think this was the wrong decision. That’s not the fault of (video replay). That’s the fault of the people making the decision, in my opinion.”

Forced to pull Victor Vazquez due to injury at halftime, Vanney lamented post-game his squad is stretched so thin he’s running some of his players into the ground.

Toronto FC hopes to get at least a few defenders back in time for Saturday’s trip to New England, where they’ve struggled to collect points in recent seasons.

The question now is how many more points TFCcan drop at home before a top two finish in the Eastern Conference is out of the question.

“We look at all the games as important,” Vanney said. “We believe we can win on the road. We want to win at home and expect to win at home. To lose three points tonight and a few points in the Chicago game I can tell you it’s infuriating for our group.

“It’s not something we take lightly. Having said that, I feel we can win games anywhere.”

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